Police snitch testifies at Project Forseti trial
for Hells Angels member
SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA ( December 5, 2016) — A drug dealer
turned police snitch took the stand Monday for the first time in connection
with Project Forseti, a months-long drug investigation that targeted the Hells
Angels and Fallen Saints Motorcycle Clubs in Saskatoon.
Snitch Noel Harder told the court he arranged to get a
kilogram of cocaine from Robert Allen, a full-patch Hells Angels member who is
on trial, accused of trafficking cocaine between Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, 2014.
Some of the confiscated items during the bust
In his opening statement, federal prosecutor Doug Curliss
said with Harder’s help, police intercepted text messages and recorded
conversations between Harder and Allen. The information proves Allen offered to
get large amounts of cocaine from Hells Angels associates in Ontario and give
the product to Harder to distribute, Curliss said.
When speaking in person, the men often used hand signals
to describe the drug deal because Allen was paranoid about being recorded,
Harder testified. That’s why many of the audio recordings have gaps in the
conversation, he said.
A Fallen Saints MC vest along side a Hells Angels MC vest sits as evidence
Harder said they would write notes that would be ripped
up and flushed down the toilet, and code language was often used in text
messages.
Curliss asked Harder about a text message in which Allen
mentioned a “moving guy” he paid to “move” to Saskatoon who didn’t show up when
expected. Harder said what Allen actually meant was that the cocaine never came
because the transport person disappeared.
Although the drug transaction never happened, offering to
sell drugs is still a crime, Curliss noted in his opening remarks.
Court heard Allen offered to sell cocaine to Harder at a
cheaper price while taking a $5,000 cut from every kilogram that was sold.
Curliss said the discussions around this arrangement took
place “over a significant period of time.” On the stand, Harder decoded
messages that used construction lingo to describe the cocaine deal and sports
references to talk about Oxycodone pills that Harder sold Allen.
He also described moments in the audio recordings when he
or Allen would use hand signals. The motion of dealing cards referred to the
drug deal, and drawing a rectangle in the air indicated a block of cocaine, he
said.
Rob Allen beside his Harley - Davidson Motorcycle
Defence lawyer Morris Bodnar argued Harder’s notes —
which filled in the gestures — should not be admissible because there’s no way
to prove they took place. Justice Grant Currie ruled he would decide how much
weight to give the evidence after the trial is over.
Harder said Allen initially approached him to start a
“support group” for the Hells Angels after the Outlaws Motorcycle Club started
gaining traction in the drug trade. The Fallen Saints Motorcycle Club was
formed and Harder became vice-president.
That led to discussions about trafficking cocaine, which
began when Harder was still in the drug businesses, the trial heard. He agreed
to become a police snitch after he was busted with guns in March 2014, but he
didn’t become an official rat snitch until Sept. 20, 2014.
